Glorying in a successful finish to the 2018 Formula One season with yet another win, it was perhaps understandable that Lewis Hamilton wanted to make one final statement. On the top step in Abu Dhabi as the anthems died away, the five-times world champion stood shirtless, triumphant and pointing to the title of Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise tattooed across his back. However he did so only after the race provided a stark reminder of the risks still involved in the sport after Nico Hülkenberg survived an horrific accident on the first lap.

Hamilton’s win at Yas Marina was a fitting finale, his run from pole was flawless and his Mercedes team called his strategy to perfection. An early pit stop under the virtual safety car proved inspired and Hamilton brought his car home in front with control, patience and the faultless judgment he has displayed across 21 meetings.

But on lap one the drama happened behind him. Hülkenberg clipped Romain Grosjean at turn nine sending his car airborne, barrel-rolling into the barriers. It came to a rest upside down and the Renault driver was unable to extricate himself as fire appeared at the rear of the car.

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“Get me out of here, there is fire, there is fire,” he said. “I’m OK but I’m hanging here like a cow. Get me out of this car.” Marshals quickly extinguished the fire and righted the car and Hülkenberg was able to climb out, unhurt. The incident has again raised questions about how easy it is to extricate drivers past the halo cockpit protection device.

Hamilton enjoyed a serene afternoon in comparison. He had already ensured Mercedes would take their fifth consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ double and matched Juan Manuel Fangio’s five titles. Yet this final drive was a microcosm of a season in which he has barely made an error and at times has been breathtaking.

Stripping to show Angelou’s inspirational words summed it up. “I’ve always wanted to do it, because I wanted to show “Still I Rise,” he said. “I think it was the perfect moment because that’s how it has been this year.”

He has made it clear that the challenge from Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel has been the hardest fight he has faced. Vettel could manage only second in Abu Dhabi in front of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, and that too reflected where the German and the Scuderia stand in relation to Hamilton.

He is the first driver to finish with more than 400 points, a number that pales against the one that matters which is the 11 victories this season, including six from the last eight. As Hamilton goes in to the close season, he is understandably carrying supreme confidence.

“As I have grown I have understood myself more and more,” he said. “I have been able to be a better me all year long and that is never going to stop. I am going to continue to try and work on that.”

These are ominous words for his rivals as they lick their wounds and consider how a driver in such fearsome form might be beaten, a point Hamilton also wanted to drive home with victory in Abu Dhabi.

“I really wanted to end the season strongly and I was able to do that,” he said. “I am grateful I had the support of the people around me and the team did an exceptional job all year long. I really wanted to deliver for them. I wanted to end the way I plan to start next year.”

Ferrari will challenge again but it was Verstappen who underlined his potential if Red Bull and Honda can give him the tools. After his engine went into safety mode at the start and he dropped places, his comeback was as good a piece of controlled aggression as the Dutchman has shown all season and was recognised by Hamilton.

“Max has been driving very well throughout the year,” he said. “If his team does the job and delivers a platform with which he can compete even closer with us, then of course he’ll be in the fight.”

Fernando Alonso bowed out of F1, finishing in 11th place. “All my career I have always been fighting, sometimes in competitive cars, sometimes not, but I’ve never given up,” he said. “Right now I am not thinking about coming back but I don’t know how I will feel next year. I need a break.”

Hamilton said he too was looking forward to a break, to spending the winter with his family. He has earned it, doing his talking on the track. Aptly then, at the close in Abu Dhabi as the sparkling rosewater flew on the podium and he stood, back to the crowd, the swirls of a tattooist’s ink said all that was needed.

• This article was amended on 29 November 2018. An earlier version referred to champagne flowing on the winner’s podium. That has been corrected to say “sparkling rosewater” which is used in Abu Dhabi on these occasions.